Grace of the Night
by LadyJaneRedfern
Summary: An ordinary girl gets the shock of her life when she meets her soulmate and is thrown into the Night World (story is better than summary, promise!!)
1. Default Chapter

Part 1  
  
Sydney Nightingale had never believed in destiny. It was all mushy nonsense to her. She might be considered a very boring and ordinary person, who handed her homework in on time, had never had a boyfriend, and only one best friend. An uninteresting life based on routine, and what kind of existence was that?  
  
Sydney needed perking up, big time. Something had to happen to her. Something humungous that destiny could flaunt in front of her. Now what could destiny do for Sydney Nightingale that would change her life forever?  
  
* * *  
  
"So who are you taking to the dance, then?"  
  
Sydney snorted in contempt. The upcoming Winter Ball at Ocean View High was all anyone could talk about at the moment. Sydney was fast beginning to wonder if she was the only person who wasn't interested in the slightest. Her best friend Darlene had been blabbing non stop about dance related things - clothes, dates, limos, the usual - all through their philosophy class. Sydney was forced to smile politely and nod along.  
  
"I'm not asking anyone," she said. She thought school dances were a waste of time, and had never attended a single one.  
  
"As long as someone beats Shaine Krystaline for dance queen, I might even be able to have a good time."  
  
Sydney made a face. Shaine Krystaline was their local beauty queen, dark skinned and raven haired, emerald eyed and typically perfect in every single way. Almost as boring as Sydney herself in one way.  
  
Nothing ever happened in the tiny seaside down of Ocean View. Not that it really mattered to Sydney. Sydney didn't like sudden changes. She was comfortable here, knowing more or less how most days were going to turn out.  
  
"You could ask Tim Carpenter," Darlene snickered, examining her reflection critically in a compact mirror.  
  
Sydney couldn't understand those girls who couldn't seem to take their eyes off their own reflections. The most annoying thing about them was no matter how irritatingly perfect they were, they could always seem to find something to improve on.  
  
"My nose is too big," Darlene blathered on animatedly, moving the compact away from, and then closer to her face.  
  
Sydney's eyes rolled. Something strange had been happening to Darlene lately. She and Sydney had been best friends practically forever. They'd always shared everything. But since they had become juniors, Darlene had started changing. She was acting more and more like the popular girls, who Sydney had never felt comfortable around. Sydney was sure she'd even seen Darlene hanging out with some of them.  
  
"Your nose is fine, and Tim's just a friend," Sydney said mildly. Tim was the only other person she sometimes spoke to, she liked him okay, but he was - she couldn't think of the words for it. Tim was - different - from most of the other boys in their year, was about the only way she could put it. Darlene had always dismissed him as a geek, but Sydney was sure there was more to it than that.  
  
"I'm going to the dance with Cain Redfern, can you believe it?" Darlene smiled at the compact, and shut it, replacing it in her bag.  
  
"Good for you," Sydney said automatically. She was bored of this conversation. She didn't feel like hearing Darlene drool over some popular guy who would use her shamelessly and never speak to her again after that night. Of course, Sydney was far too polite to ever say something like that.  
  
The bell rang, and Sydney, along with everyone else, stood up and began putting her books away. To her surprise, when she was done, Darlene was gone. She was heading out the door with Harmony Windsong, and Celina Mandril, two of the cheerleaders.   
  
Sydney was confused, and couldn't help wondering what she was missing here. With a depressed sigh, she headed for her locker. And stared in disbelief at the boy standing there. She'd seen him around school, he was tall, kind of slender for a guy, with unnaturally pale skin, and that man-in-black thing working for him, complete with long black hair and dark eyes. What could someone like that, possibly want with Sydney?  
  
"Can I help you?" she asked, pushing her ordinary brown hair behind her left ear.  
  
He gave her a surprisingly warm smile, something in his dark eyes seemed to dance and swirl, Sydney found it hard not to sigh out loud. She hadn't known she was attracted to this type. That's not right, you don't even know him, knock it off! she scolded herself.  
  
"Not yet, but soon maybe," he said.  
  
Sydney eyed him. What the hell was he talking about? He wasn't in any of her classes, she didn't even know his name. How could he know her? She seriously doubted it was just because he'd seen her around. She wasn't the type that was noticed easily. Or at least, that was what she thought.  
  
He looked like the type of dark and scary guy she generally tended to avoid. Sure, it was okay to admire guys like him on TV shows or movies, but she had never actually wanted to come face to face with one. He had the same weird differentness about him that Tim did, only stronger. She dreaded the thought of being alone in a dark alley with him.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Everything will become clear. Destiny if often clouded."  
  
Sydney's eyes rolled. Great, dark creepy and crazy too, just the kind of guy everyone wanted to have a crush on them. Or was she exaggerating? "I don't believe in destiny," Sydney said flatly. "Who are you, anyway?"  
  
"The one you've been dreaming of," he smiled at her again, then disappeared. How could he know what she had been dreaming for? Certainly not a guy like him.   
  
She tried to catch another glimpse of him, but he was gone, as if he had just disappeared. She shrugged and shook her head, and opened her locker.  
  
"Stay away from him."  
  
Sydney blinked, turning to find herself looking directly into Shaine Krystaline's green cat eyes. Sydney had never realised they were the same height before. Shaine had never given any acknowledgement that she even knew Sydney existed before now. "Excuse me?"   
  
"His name is Aidan Noir," Shaine told her. "Bad news and extremely dangerous." Shaine's voice was cold, her expression extremely serious. As were the faces of her usual chirpy band of groupies.   
  
"Then what was all that destiny crap about?" Sydney asked, starting to feel extremely uncomfortable.  
  
"Crap, just like you said. Stay away from him." Shaine turned and walked away. Her groupies followed like good little puppies.   
  
That was weird, Sydney thought finally putting her books away. Aidan Noir may choose a freaky look, but he was he really dangerous as well as disillusioned? Then again, considering how weird it all was, she was more than a little willing to take Shaine's advice.   
  
She shut her locker door, and a piece of paper slid out. Sydney frowned, and bent down to pick it up, her eyes widening as she read the note. The message was scrawled in red ink, and said the words 'Together Forever'.  
  
* * * 


	2. Part 2

Part 2  
  
"What the hell did you do that for?"  
  
Aidan sighed, trying to ignore the angry note in Darcy Blackthorn's voice. She would   
never understand, even if he tried to explain. "My reasons," was all he would say. He   
had had his eyes on Sydney Nightingale for some time now. He'd done a spell with   
some witch friends a few years back, when magic had been fun to mess with. Him   
and his best friend Talon Freeman and the mysterious new girl Arwen Harman.   
  
A silly little fortune telling game to find their soulmates, it had been her idea,   
and no one could ever seem to say no to her. It had been the time of his life when   
girls were just beginning to look interesting, and you were starting to learn who you   
really were.  
  
The piece of candle wax that had dropped in to the bowl had formed a vague   
shape of a bird. He seemed to have been the only one to find his, Talon had been   
killed by a vampire hunter, and Arwen seemed to have disappeared completely.   
  
"She's /human/," Darcy was going on in disgust. "Waste of time and space.   
Unless you're planning on eating her." She smiled a little. "You coming to the club   
later?"  
  
Aidan shrugged. "I guess."  
  
Darcy didn't bother saying goodbye. With a snort she half waved before   
climbing on a black and purple Yamaha motorcycle and zoomed off. He was left   
alone, and needed to think. The typical problem with his kind, of course his one true   
love would be human.  
  
And it was the biggest crime he could ever commit, according to his Elders.   
His kind had existed along side humans for many thousands of years, only he had   
had been born into the modern world, where the supernatural seemed to just blend   
in, and not make themselves noticed if they could help it. They had their rules to   
terrify their kind, the primary being never tell a human, and the second, never falling   
in love with one.  
  
His friends would have a fit if they found out about his feelings for ordinary   
human Sydney. She wasn't even anyone popular or important, just ordinary. He   
wondered if that was why she appealed to him more than some of the others. He   
could have any girl he wanted, but the one he wanted was turning out to be more of a   
problem than he had thought.  
  
He paused on a stretch of grass, raised high enough to get a glimpse of the   
Pacific ocean, still jewel blue in the distance, even in December. The sun still shone   
brightly, sparkling across the waves. At first he had never believed the spell had ever   
worked. Now, though, after finding Sydney, there were just too many coincidences.  
  
However much of a problem her humanity presented him with, problems   
could generally be solved.  
  
"Are you /sure/ you ant to do this?" Shaine stood beside him, one of the rare   
times when she was alone, particularly beautiful in the late afternoon sun with the   
breeze blowing just slightly though her midnight locks of hair.  
  
Aidan nodded. He had a vague idea of a plan in mind, and was more than a   
little surprised that Shaine had agreed to help him out. Aidan folded his arms,   
nodding. "Why'd you agree to this?"  
  
Shaine's red lips curved into a secret smile. "Maybe there's more to me than   
just a pretty face."  
  
Aidan was beginning to see that. He had always dismissed her as a bimbo   
vampiress with nothing on her mind but money and plenty of humans to feed on. Yet   
when he'd been thinking of his plan, apparently she had been the one to ask, and so   
far, she had agreed. "So I see."  
  
He wasn't usually one for expressing words and emotions very brilliantly. He   
tended to only say what was necessary to get the point across, so thinking of the   
right words to get Sydney interested enough to think of him, but without being really   
sure what was going on, had been quite a challenge.   
  
Same as not really knowing how to put across his feelings about the spell,   
and the possibility that it was now very real. He wasn't sure if he liked it or hated it.  
  
"Did she buy it?" he asked.  
  
Shaine nodded. "She bought it. Leave the next part to me." She walked away   
from him. Aidan found himself actually smiling for the third time that day. He was   
really on a roll.  
  
* * *  
  
"What'd you think they're up to?" Elenia White asked her friend Adila Weald. Adila   
shrugged, trying not to be too obvious about starting at Aidan Noir, thinking how   
gorgeous he was. She hadn't really been paying attention to Elenia, she had been   
trying to think how she could convince him that being one of the good guys wasn't all   
that bad, that not everything supernatural needed to be evil.  
  
She couldn't understand why he'd rather hang out with snotty bitches like   
Shaine Krystaline and Darcy Blackthorn.   
  
"He's been obsessed with Sydney Nightingale for quite some time now, and   
he actually got round to approaching her today," Elenia went on.   
  
"Who?" The name didn't mean anything to Adila.  
  
"Girl in my bio lab and algebra class," Elenia said, frowning. "Human, not   
anyone particularly important. Why else would someone like Aidan be talking to her,   
if he wasn't up to something?"  
  
Adila sighed. Elenia seemed to think that Aidan and his vampire friends were   
up to something almost all the time. Maybe it was because she had something   
against vampires, Adila didn't know, but since it seemed that she and Elenia were the   
only witches, and the only Daybreakers, in the school, they tended to stick together,   
no matter how annoying Elenia was. There were rumours that there were one or two   
werewolves about, but Elenia had never met one.   
  
"Even if something is going on," Adila said with a sigh. "What can we do about   
it, anyway? Sydney is human, and it's not necessary for her to know, and it'll   
probably be more sensible if you don't arouse her suspicions."  
  
"Fine," Elenia snapped moodily, and stalked off.  
  
Adila's eyes rolled as she walked down the bow empty corridors to her locker,   
having not had the chance to go earlier as Elenia had dragged her off to follow Aidan   
and Shaine. She was about to turn a corner when she paused, hearing Shaine's   
voice. She didn't feel like walking in the middle of them and having them glare, or   
generally bitch, and there was no other way to her locker. She sighed with irritation   
and waited for them to move along.   
  
"Is everything set?" Shaine was asking.   
  
"Yeah, everything's ready, though I don't really understand what's going on   
though," the second voice was that of Carmel Flamael, a nasty but beautiful girl in the   
popular clique, though what her speciality was, Adila had never been too sure, and   
didn't really want to find out.   
  
Shaine laughed, tinkling and delicate, also kind of disturbing as well. "We're   
just having a bit of fun."  
  
"Then why can't we use someone annoying like Jennifer Graham then? That   
bitch could do with a good ass-kicking." Carmel didn't sound too pleased with   
whatever Shaine was planning.  
  
"Because someone like Jennifer would be missed, that's the fun of playing   
with the nobodies." Shaine paused for a second. "Is Zaide on board?"  
  
"Uh-huh, I spoke to him this afternoon. Harmony and Celina are taking care of   
Darlene."  
  
"Good. So we're all set."  
  
Adila frowned, wondering what was going on. She had never heard of anyone   
named Zaide before. And as much as she hated to admit it, it sounded as if for once,   
it looked like Elenia was actually right.  
  
* * * 


	3. Part 3

Part 3  
  
When Sydney arrived home the house was empty. There was no interesting mail. Her parents were out of town on vacation, and she would be alone for the next few days. She turned on the TV, made a snack and tried to keep her mind focused on her homework. She was /not/ going to think about what happened.  
  
It was very hard not to. Some creepy guy blathering on about her coming destiny? How the hell could he possibly know what she had been dreaming? Sydney didn't know what her dream was, she was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. She was hoping she'd find the answers when she went to college.  
  
How could Mr Tall and Dark be related? Her ideal guy was tall, blond, muscular, in a nice fancy suit, someone with elegance and class, money and charm, yet sensitive and caring. Too bad guys like that didn't exist in real life.   
  
And what was even weirder, was why Shaine was bothering to tell her to stay away. So much for not thinking about this? Sydney thought dryly, throwing her pencil down in frustration.  
  
She found herself grateful for the distraction of the ringing phone. "Hello?"  
  
"It's me," Darlene was the only person who called her anyway. "Listen what are you doing tonight?"  
  
"Nothing, why? And what was the deal with you blowing me off for Harmony and Celina?" Sydney was pleased to find something she could get annoyed with. Darlene should at least have the decency to /tell/ her if she was changing sides.  
  
"I mentioned it earlier, you weren't paying attention. They're okay."  
  
Sydney snorted, as much as she wanted to, at the moment she decided she wasn't going to comment on the whole thing. "Whatever you say." She picked up the pencil she had thrown down and started concentrating on the algebra she had to complete for tomorrow.   
  
"You sound kind of - weird. Did something happen?"  
  
Sydney debated. Should she tell, or should she keep Mr. Creepy to herself. Maybe Darlene could make some sense out of this. So Sydney told her. Darlene was silent while Sydney told the story, then breathed a huge almost dreamy sigh when she had finished.   
  
"Aidan Noir? Wow. I've seen him around, but why would he be talking to you about destiny?" There was a noticeable tone of jealously in Darlene's voice.   
  
"Beats the hell out of me," Sydney shrugged, even though Darlene couldn't see.   
  
"Well this'll cheer you up, we're going to the party at Shaine's house later."  
  
Sydney hadn't mentioned the part about Shaine's warning. Sydney wondered who could tell her more about this mysterious Aidan Noir. She didn't know enough people, or usually didn't have the courage to ask about boys she liked. Not that she really liked him. She was just - curious.   
  
"I thought you hated her," she said lightly.   
  
"Yeah, I do, but I like Harmony and Celina, and if I can get in through them, I can bring the bitch down from the inside, they think I have a real chance for being Winter Ball Queen myself." Darlene sounded almost pathetically excited.   
  
Sydney was disgusted. She'd been dreading this would happen. It was all the more incentive to find out what Aidan wanted with her. "Why do I have to go to this party?" she asked.  
  
"Oh come on, it'll be fun. Aidan might be there."  
  
Sydney had never seen anyone fitting his description with the popular clique before. Maybe someone would pass on the news that she was going and they'd find each other in the crowd. "I guess."  
  
"Roane Darkthorn will come and pick you up at eight. See you then," Darlene said, and hung up.   
  
Roane Darkthorn, one of the drool-factor jocks that girls were supposed to be wild about. To Sydney he was vain, snobby and self-centred. Now she had the dreaded thought of trying to think of something to wear. She didn't really have designer labels or anything like that. She certainly wasn't going to buy a new outfit now for something that would probably turn out to be boring anyway.   
  
As she passed the front door on the way to the kitchen she saw a note had been pushed through the letter box. Sydney's eyes rolled. What now? she thought, picking it up., The note had been written with a stencil, in huge block letters were the words - DON'T GO TO THAT PARTY, YOUR LIFE IS AT RISK.  
  
Sydney shook her head, staring at it. This was getting ridiculous. First Aidan with his message, note number one she was sure was from him, then Shaine's warning, and now this.   
  
The sensible thing to do would be to take the notes and warnings into consideration, but Sydney was tired of being the sensible girl who never did anything risky or wild. So the only thing at the moment that made sense to her, was that she would actually go to that party.  
  
* * *  
  
"Do you really think she'll fall for this?" Celina asked, slightly disgusted, after Harmony had shoved the note through the door and run away again.   
  
"Of course it'll work," Harmony said with a snort, staring the car engine and driving off. "Humans are so wonderfully predictable. It's the simplest principle of reverse psychology." Harmony giggled as she turned at the end of the road.  
  
Celina had never really bothered to think much about how humans thought before. How they had even managed to survive as far as they had was still a mystery to her. She had spoken with Carmel earlier, neither of them really knew what Shaine wanted with Sydney Nightingale, all they knew was Shaine wanted the girl at the party.   
  
"Is she really going to bring Zaide into this?" Celina shuddered. Zaide Discord was a cold-blooded killer. He cared for nothing but satisfying his own pleasure, taking what he wanted, no matter who got in the way, or who got hurt. She hadn't thought of the type top leave a human alive after he'd been through with them, no matter how Shaine managed to - convince - him.  
  
"Last I knew, she was smug he was all for her plan," Harmony said. "She's got guts getting involved with him, gotta give her that."  
  
"Why Sydney Nightingale?" Celina asked. "What's so special about her?"  
  
Harmony shrugged. "No idea. Not really caring either."  
  
Maybe Celina shouldn't care much, either. She was immortal, beautiful, perfect. No human had ever concerned her before. Instead of trying to fit in with the modern world, like most Night People seemed to be doing now, Celina longed to explore the darker side of her nature, see what she was capable.  
  
Zaide could do that, she'd heard he had complete disregard for the Council, he didn't seem to grasp the concept of rules. He scared the hell out of her, but secretly, she admired him.   
  
And now games with innocent little vermin were bugging her? The problem though, was what, if anything, she could do about it? She was torn between her lust to be a real vampire, land the irritating morals stuck in her from living with a human society.   
  
"What's with you, you've barely said a word," Harmony said as she parked in Celina's driveway.   
  
"I haven't got much to say," Celina answered, picking up her books and purse. "See you at the party."  
  
Celina had plenty to say, actually, but she didn't want to talk about any of it to Harmony, who would probably just laugh her head off. As she paced around her empty house, a thought occurred to her, and she picked up the phone.   
  
* * * 


	4. Part 4

Part 4  
  
"He's up to something, I'm sure of it," Darcy said. She sat in the underground club with her best friend Frost Bloodthorn.  
  
"What makes you so sure?" Frost asked, pulling her teeth out the neck of the human she was feeling on. He lay across her lap, a goofy smile plastered across his face as Frost stroked his bare chest like he was a pet. His damp dark hair was squashed against Frost's flat stomach.  
  
Loud speed metal music blasted out from the DJ' booth. Human dancers in cages twisted and writhed with the music. The dance floor was packed with Night People, and God knew what else, looking for a good time, all the same.  
  
Darcy had been waiting for Aidan to show up. He'd said he would, but hadn't made an appearance yet. "Aidan was drooling over that vermin bitch Sydney."  
  
"And you're jealous because...?" Frost turned her human over so he lay on his back, her hand running up and down his spine. "Want some?" she offered.  
  
Darcy winced. "No thanks. And I am /not/ jealous."  
  
That wasn't it. She was sure of it. Just concerned. Humans were nothing but food, and it was forbidden to drool over them. That was the way it was for Night People, that was how they had survived. It did them no good to get involved with vermin. Vermin had that irritating habit of being afraid of what they didn't know and going nuts trying to do something about it.  
  
"Have you talked to him?"  
  
"He won't answer me," Darcy said moodily.  
  
"So leave it at that."  
  
Darcy shook her head. "I can't. Where would vermin people be?"   
  
Frost shrugged. "There's supposed to be a party at Shaine Krystaline's."  
  
Darcy sighed. Great, bimbo central, she thought. She knew for a fact that Sydney didn't run with that crowd. She was no one special, so why should someone like Aidan be interested in her at all?  
  
"I don't know why she annoys me so much, she just /does/," she admitted. Not that that really made her feel any better. She didn't know if Frost could give her any decent answers as to why.  
  
"You could ask the witches to find something," Frost offered.  
  
Darcy made a face. The only witches were Daybreak, and the last thing Darcy wanted to do was find herself turning to them for advice. She certainly wasn't ready to sink that low yet. "He was stood at the bitch's locker, blathering to her about how he was the one she had been dreaming of."  
  
  
  
She shook her head in utter disgust, grabbing the Vodka bottle from a passing waitress. Who backed off as Darcy just looked at her, eyes flashing briefly. She took a large swig. "Can you believe anyone would be that stupid? Destiny and humans don't mix."   
  
"I guess." Frost was oddly silent at this comment, she had knocked the human off her lap all together, no longer interested in him. He couldn't quite manage to drag himself to his feet, making a gargling sound in his throat, grabbing for Frost's leg. She kicked his hand away with her heel. She stood up, walking away.  
  
Darcy watched her go, eyebrow raised slightly in disbelief. What the hell was all /that/ about? She sighed heavily, taking another mouthful from the bottle. Frost was one of those wild girls who didn't seem to care about anything. She coasted through life and had about as much depth as a bed sheet. Or at least that was the image she tried to portray.   
  
She stood up, leaving the bottle on the table. As much as she dreaded the thought, it looked like she was going to have to enter alien territory at the vermin party to get some answers.   
  
* * *  
  
"Try not to kill her, we'll make it up to you later." Shaine hoped her voice sounded calm, reasonable. If she acted scared, then there was no way Zaire would ever agree to her plan. She wished they were in a nice bright area instead of the smoky dive he liked to hang out in.   
  
"Why can't I kill her? It's not my policy to leave humans alive when I'm done playing with them."  
  
"Carmel said you were on bored." Shaine folded her arms, watching him carefully.   
  
Zaire shrugged, his grin almost manic. "Yeah, but who's to say once I get into this I might change my mind?"  
  
Shaine threw a wad of cash at him. She'd promised Aidan she'd help him with this one. She liked to think the idea of soulmates was actually possible. Maybe she didn't agree with any of Circle Daybreak's other principles, but soulmates was as old as the Ancient Powers. Aidan was absolutely certain that the spell he and his friends had cast pointed him to Sydney.  
  
To make the thing work, Sydney needed to be a Night Person, and if they could do that /before/ the literal lightning blow of the connection, all the better.  
  
Bringing a cold blooded killer into the deal was sort of a last resort, cause she didn't have any other ideas in mind at the moment. She had hoped he would agree for cash, it wasn't like getting more of it would be a problem for her, but how useful was cash to vampires like him, really?  
  
Zaire looked at the money, then pocketed it. "I /suppose/ I could make an exception," he said he said, as if leaving Sydney barely alive was going to be a great burden for him. "You owe me, sweat pea."  
  
Shaine nodded, standing up. "Great. My place, sometime around nine." She breathed a huge sigh once outside, though not quite of relief. So everything was set. She was even smiling as she went home to get ready.  
  
* * *  
  
"If you say I told you so, I'll hit you," Adila said before Elenia could open her mouth.  
  
Elenia just smirked triumphantly, though Adila didn't see why. They knew nothing more than the fact that Shaine and her Night World bitch squad were going to do something to Sydney Nightingale.   
  
"What do you know about a vampire named Zaire?" Adila asked. That tiny scarp of information was the one that had been bugging her the most. Carmel had sounded scared when she'd told Shaine he was on bored.  
  
"Zaire Redfern?" Elenia had frozen, staring straight ahead, and wouldn't turn to meet Adila's eyes. "Haven't you /heard/ of him?"  
  
Adila shook her head. "No. Who is he?"  
  
"Vicious psycho killer. No vampire hunter has managed to catch him yet. He's somewhere around three hundred. I heard he was one of Hunter's enforcers, made by him, which is how he got the Redfern name."  
  
Adila tried not to shudder. Great, a powerful vampire who just happened to be a friend of Hunter Redfern. How could two ordinary Daybreak witches manage to take on a guy like that?  
  
"And they're letting him loose at Shaine's party - we /must/ get to Sydney before anything happens!"   
  
They were both sat in Adila's car watching Shaine's house from across the street. The party was in full swing already, people coming and going everywhere. Sydney had already gone in with Roane Darkthorn, and hadn't come out yet. Adila wondered how she managed to put up with him, Roane was the type of vampire who thought the world owed him a favour.  
  
"It's not like we can just /walk/ in there," Adila pointed out.  
  
Elenia shook her head. "I don't care. I have to stop this. I have to stop Zaire." She was out the car and running for the party before Adila could stop her.   
  
Elenia liked to help out when she could, sure, all Daybreakers did. But neither of them were experienced at this type of thing, particularly against powerful vampires they didn't know. Elenia would be dead before she knew what hit her. The last thing Adila needed was this Zaire Redfern character pissed at them.  
  
She got out the car herself, and hurried to find Elenia before she did something stupid.  
  
* * * 


	5. Part 5

Part 5  
  
Sydney felt extremely nervous when she arrived at the party. Roane was already driving her nuts, he thought coming with him was the best privilege she would ever get in her life.   
  
"This'll get you right up that popularity ladder," he was saying, his fingers running though his gleaming, perfect dark hair. "Seeing you here with me, what more could you ask for?"  
  
A nice guy who's not dangerous, dark and creepy, and one who's not a self centred arrogant jerk? she thought, managing a weak smile, She hadn't seen Darlene or Shaine, or anyone she remotely knew. She felt tiny, and completely out of her league.   
  
"I think I'll go get a drink," she said in a small voice.  
  
"I'll go., you stay here," Roane said gallantly, and marched off.   
  
As soon as he was out of sight, Sydney breathed a sigh of relief and hurried away, hoping he would loose sight of her in the crowd. She kept her own eyes peeled for Darlene, who had made such a damn fuss about coming. She had called twice after the first time to make absolutely certain that Sydney would be coming, She had shown up, as promised, but was regretting every minute of it.   
  
None of the popular people had spoken to her. Though she had noticed Celina watching her. Her cold emerald eyes had sent shivers down Sydney's spine. She didn't like the thought of being stared at. It was extremely creepy.  
  
Well, on the good side, so far, no one had made any attempts on her life yet. She wondered what that absurd note had been about. Despite being night and kind of cold, there were a number of people in the pool in skimpy swimwear.  
  
Sydney didn't understand it. Were they all vampires with no body temperature? She snickered at the thought.  
  
"Um, hi, listen, you don't know me, and this is going to sound a little nuts, but I need you to come with me right now."  
  
Sydney frowned at the small blonde girl, who, as said, she didn't recognise in the slightest. "Why?"  
  
"It's extremely important. Come on." The girl grabbed her arm and started towing her away, back inside the mansion, then out the front of the house and to a car parked a small way down the road.  
  
"Crap," she said angrily. "Now where the hell did she go?"  
  
"Who?" Sydney was getting annoyed. She didn't have a clue what was happening, and was starting to think this was all some huge practical joke, and everyone would be laughing at her tomorrow. "Who the hell are you? What's going /on/ here?"  
  
  
  
  
The girl looked around, clearly frustrated about something. She pulled a set of keys out her pocket and opened the car door. "Elenia White. I'll explain everything in a minute, I have to go and find Adila. Get in, lock the door, and don't open it for anyone but me."  
  
Sydney's eyes rolled, but she did as she was asked. Part of her thought the whole thing was kind of funny. Nothing like this ever happened to real people like her, it was the type of thing you saw on TV or read about in books.   
  
Only now, something interesting was /finally/ happening, and to /her/, of all people. A gorgeous scary guy with a destiny speech, a mysterious warning about him, another warning her life was in danger, and a stranger dragging her away from the party.   
  
For what? To save her from whatever had been going to kill her?  
  
Maybe she could write her own book about this, she thought, sitting back in the front passenger seat. Of course, gorgeous and dark, Adian would be a vampire, to protect her from Shaine, his evil jealous ex girlfriend wanting revenge cause he came to his senses and dumped her. This Elenia White person would be a vampire slayer trying to save her cause Aidan did something to her in the past, which he now regretted since he had become good. Then after she and Adian had fallen him love, she would cure him with a powerful magic spell, make him human again, Elenia would kill Shaine with her slayer powers, and they would all be friends and live happily ever after.  
  
Sydney chuckled to herself. Okay, so some strange stuff was happening, but not that strange. Wishful thinking she thought, waiting for Elenia to return so she could explain what was going on here.  
  
* * *  
  
Zaire was bored the minute he entered the high school party. He should have brought along some of his own crowd, he thought with a smirk, to liven this dull crowd up a bit, like in that Marilyn Manson video.   
  
More than a few girls had taken an interest in him. He could screw and kill all night is he wanted to. He needed to wok up an appetite before finding this vermin girl Shaine wanted him to deal with.  
  
He scowled as some stupid bitch knocked into him.   
  
"Oh, sorry," She looked up. Stroke of luck for him. Here was the vermin girl. Might as well get this over and then he might be able to think about something fun.  
  
He smirked and grabbed her arm. "Come with me." She struggled, but he was too strong for her.   
  
"Let go!" she snapped, looking around. No one took any notice. Even Zaire caught a few sly smiles as he pulled her towards the first empty room he found upstairs.   
  
She tried to twist away, but he had her arms pinned behind her back. Holding them in place with one hand, with the other he grabbed her hair, yanking her head back and exposing her throat.  
  
  
She was extremely tasty, and that delightful smell of fear gave the blood that extra zing that made the whole thing almost worth while.  
  
"You stupid asshole!"  
  
Zaire pushed the almost dead girl out the way, finding himself facing a furious Shaine. "What?" he asked, perfectly aware of the blood staining his mouth.  
  
"That's the /wrong/ girl."  
  
"You're point?" Zaire couldn't really care less if he had happened to kill the wrong human. They were all the same to him. It was one less human to worry about, what was the big deal anyway? Vampires killed humans, since when was that a crime?  
  
He frowned as a familiar blonde appeared beside Shaine, shrieking at the sight of the now dead body. Zaire's eyes rolled. Elenia. Just great he thought moodily. "Who the hell invited her? She'll spoil all the fun."  
  
Shaine glanced over at Elenia, eyebrow raising delicately. "No one did invite her. Or Adila over there."  
  
"You'll both pay for this." Elenia's attempt at acid in her voice sounded more funny than scary.  
  
"Yeah, we're shaking," Zaire said, folding his arms.  
  
Shaine grabbed Elenia's arm. "You gonna kill her too?"  
  
Elenia yanked her arm away and hurled a blast of orange witch fire at him. Zaire swore and dove out the way before it could hit him. It hit the lamp on the bedside table, shattering the light shade and bulb. By the time he pulled himself to his feet Elenia was gone.  
  
"Shit," Shaine said angrily.   
  
"Let her go," Zaire said calmly. "There's nothing she can do. I'll deal with her." His eyes narrowed as a cruel smile snaked over his lips.  
  
* * * 


	6. Part 6

Part 6  
  
The vermin party was every bit as bad as Darcy thought it would be. Snotty, pretty rich vermin, and leather clad Night People. The mixture was nuts. It was taking every ounce of her self control not to reach out and just grab one of these human fools and drain them cause she felt like it.  
  
Then again, she had the feeling that was what these vermin were probably there for. Shaine needed to keep up her reputation with the humans as well as the Night People. Darcy just didn't understand the fascination with high school popularity contests.  
  
She couldn't see Aidan anywhere, or anyone she even remotely liked. She wasn't all that surprised. She hadn't seen that vermin bitch Sydney either. Then again, there were so many people there.  
  
This was a really stupid idea she thought moodily, grabbing a bottle of beer from the fridge after she had found her way into the kitchen. Now she had to search for a bottle opener.  
  
"And how exactly, did trash like you manage to get in here?"  
  
Darcy's eyes rolled as she turned to find herself facing Harmony Windsong. She shrugged blandly. "Same way everyone else did," she answered, finding one and pulling the lid off her beer. "Did you want something?"  
  
Harmony scowled at her. "I could ask you the same thing."  
  
An insult match and tacky banter with a wimpy witch was not something Darcy was in the mood for. She was regretting ever stepping foot inside this place. Her eyes rolled as she swigged her beer. "I'm just here," she said.  
  
Harmony's head tilted to one side, her raven hair brushing her shoulders. "You hate our people. Why bother just being here?"  
  
Darcy supposed, as much as she hated to admit it, Harmony did actually have a good point. "I'm looking for Aidan. He's supposed to be here somewhere."  
  
Harmony made a face. "Why?"  
  
Darcy ignored her and left the kitchen, wondering if Aidan was really here after al;. Maybe she had misunderstood seeing him with Shaine. Frost had been the one to tell her to try the party, but it looked like that was a bust.   
  
"You're gonna love this."  
  
Darcy turned in surprise as Frost leaned into her, leering insanely. She sneered in disgust. You're drunk."  
  
Frost giggled. "Very. Adila is dead."  
  
Darcy tried to remember why that should mean something to her. Frost was wasted, and could easily be exaggerating. Then she got it. "The Daybreak witch? How?"  
  
"Went upstairs to get laid, there was a corpse on the floor." Frost seemed to think this was very funny. Then she belched loudly. "Someone deserves an award for that one."  
  
"I'm taking you home," Darcy said with a heavy sigh. What a waste of fucking time, she thought angrily, dragging Frost to the front door of the mansion. Frost was trying to do ballet steps and singing a very dirty song. Darcy felt like strangling her.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
Darcy turned to see Aidan coming in from a side room she had missed, He seemed surprised to see her. She didn't blame him, really. She shrugged, nodding at Frost. "She's wasted."  
  
Aidan frowned at her, shoving his hands inside his jeans pockets. "Really."  
  
Now she had actually /found/ him, she couldn't actually of anything to say. It was kind of funny, in a twisted way. She'd had plenty to drag out of him before she was actually face to face with him. Now all her words seemed to have evaporated. Which was annoying cause this had never happened to her before.  
  
So why now?  
  
Oh God Darcy thought, disgusted with herself.  
  
"There's been a problem," Shaine appeared beside Aidan, touching his arm gently, trying to pull him away.   
  
Aidan turned to look at her. "Is Sydney okay?" He seemed to have forgotten Darcy was there.  
  
"Sydney doesn't appear to actually be here. Zaire got peckish."  
  
Zaire? So he had actually shown up then. Darcy smiled a little, guessing that Zaire had killed the Daybreak witch, either by accident or on purpose, she wasn't really sure. She didn't know enough. She tried to follow, pushing Frost to one side. Frost just fell on the floor.  
  
If Shaine was stupid enough to let a killer vampire like Zaire inside, of course, someone was going to end up dead. She pushed her way through the crowd, not caring who she knocked over. If it came to a confrontation between Zaire and Aidan, then Aidan wouldn't last a second.  
  
"You need to leave. Now." Darcy scowled. She was not going to be ordered around by Shaine or any of her stupid bitchy friends.  
  
"What are you going to do?" she sneered. "Make me?" She was more than happy to fight her way out of this, she was more than happy to kick Shaine's ass in front of all her crowd. If she was going to make things difficult, then bring it on.  
  
Aidan had come back. He was taking Darcy's arm in a firm grip and was leading away from Shaine. As much as she wanted to smash Shaine's face in, she couldn't bring herself to hit Aidan.  
"Go," Aidan said tiredly. "Darcy, please just go. This isn't any of your business."  
  
Darcy stared after him, somewhere between anger, confusion and disbelief. She turned and stalked away. She had a pretty good idea why she felt the way she did, but at the moment, she didn't want to explore the reason.  
  
* * * 


	7. Part 7

Part 7  
  
Sydney sighed impatiently, getting more annoyed by the minute as she sat waiting for Elenia to return and explain what the hell was going on. She could sit there and fantasize about it all she wanted, but some real answers would be night.  
  
She bit her lip on a scream when a dark figure loomed outside the window of the car, tapping on the glass. Sydney rolled the window down cautiously, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Tim! You scared me, what are you doing here?"  
  
Tim Carpenter smiled faintly, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Confused as to why you would be going somewhere with that jerk Roane Darkthorn." His smile had faded, and he looked almost - Sydney couldn't quite identify the emotion. Hurt, maybe?   
  
She sighed. "It's kind of a long story."  
  
Tim shrugged. "I've got time, tell me."  
  
So she did. He just watched her carefully, not saying much. She waited when she'd finished, curious to know what he thought of the whole thing. "So where'd Elenia go?"  
  
"You know her?" Sydney was surprised. Tim was almost as quiet and reserved as she was. She didn't recall ever seeing him with - well - anyone. He was known for being a loner. She didn't know him inside out, so she could only muse.  
  
Tim nodded. "She's okay, and if she pulled you out that house, it was for a good reason."  
  
Sydney snorted. "It was a waste of time anyway, I'm sorry I let Darlene talk me into it. Elenia went into the house to look for someone, she's been gone some time."  
  
Tim was scowling at the house as if the building itself was responsible for everything that had happened that day. "Maybe I should go and look for her."  
  
"No, don't go, stay with me," Sydney said quickly. She didn't want to be alone anymore. She would definitely feel much safer if Tim was with her, at least he'd be someone familiar.   
  
"We need to go now," Elenia hurried up to the car, fine blond hair flying around her as she moved. She looked surprised to see Tim there. "What are you doing here?" She glared at Sydney. "I told you not to open the door to anyone."  
  
Sydney smiled. "I didn't open the door, I rolled down the window."  
Elenia's eyes rolled. "Whatever. Tim, are you coming?"  
  
Tim nodded, and got in the back seat of the car. Elenia drove off speedily, dodging through traffic, not saying anything, swerving through red lights. Sydney found herself gripping the dashboard, too alarmed and the recklessness of the driving to say anything in case she distracted Elenia.   
  
Elenia, much to her relief, was starting to slow down when they reached roads Sydney recognised. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" she asked.   
  
Elenia nodded. "It's all a set up, Aiden and Shaine are up to something, and it's something to do with you."  
  
Sydney didn't understand. Elenia parked on her driveway, and Sydney let them into her empty house. She turned on as many lights as she could downstairs. "I knew there was something creepy about Aidan. But what is he, exactly?" She felt a little silly saying that, but knew the thought would bug her until she didn't say it.  
  
Elenia was looking at Tim, Tim was shrugging and not looking too pleased. They seemed to be speaking, but not using words. Sydney was even more confused.  
  
Elenia turned to face her. "He's a vampire."  
  
Sydney burst out laughing. She couldn't help it. That had been her fantasy that, Aiden being a vampire who would sweep her off her feet. But it had just been a daydream. "You've /got/ to be kidding me," she chortled. "Let me guess, Shaine's an evil witch?"  
  
"No, she's a vampire as well, Tim here is a shapeshifter, I'm the witch."  
  
Sydney stopped laughing, glancing at Tim, eyes pleading that it wasn't true. Tim just nodded. Sydney sank back into the plushy green sofa. She remembered being sure there was something different about Tim, she had never guessed it would be this bizarre. "What's a shapeshifter?" she asked.  
  
"People who can turn into animals," he answered. "My animal is a lynx cat."  
  
"We're telling you this for a reason, so you can prepare yourself against Shaine and her crew. They're all Night People," Elenia was going on earnestly, leaning forward in her seat.  
  
Sydney blinked. "Night People?"  
  
Elenia nodded. "It's called Night World, we're a secret society of vampires, witches and shapeshifters. We blend in with your human world. Shaine and Aidan are the bad guys, while we," she smiled "are the good guys. We belong to an organisation called Circle Daybreak. We want to stop the violence between the humans and the Night World. There are two cardinal rules the Night People live and die by: don't tell humans it exists, and don't fall in love with them. Night People can hunt and kill humans if they want, we Daybreakers want to stop that and abolish the rule. Circle Daybreak lets humans in, and we all manage to get along, and we don't see why everyone else can't."  
  
She was really serious. Sydney was finding it harder to find this funny, Elenia knew she was in danger at the party and Tim had said she'd have a good reason to pull her out. "So what - all Shaine's friends as Night People as well?"  
  
Elenia nodded again. "Harmony and Celina are vampire/witch crossbreeds, Carmel is a witch. They're the important ones. Oh, and Darcy Blackthorn, Aidan's friend is a vampire. Anyone with a surname of Redfern will be a vampire, also Blackthorns, Galenas, Stillmans, and Mandrills, they're the mainstream vampire clans. Harmans are the most important witches, other witch names to watch out for are Weald, Arlin, Morrigan, Lucna and Abforth. Shapeshifters usually take surnames from their animal, they're harder to identify. Draches are the shifter royal family."  
  
Sydney nodded. None of the names sounded familiar to her, but at least Elenia was actually giving her some useful information. "Okay, how do I stop Night People?" She couldn't bring herself to say the words 'kill' them. Everything was hard enough to take in as it was.  
  
"For vampires it's wood and fire, witches are more or less humans with special powers, so pretty much anything, though iron is their main thing, it's silver for shapeshifters. But you need training to handle Night People, with they're inhuman strength and speed for the vamps and shifters."  
  
"Oh, of course," Sydney said lamely. "I take it since I know now, I'm supposed to keep this to myself?"  
  
Elenia nodded. "Circle Daybreak will protect you until we're sure what Shaine and Aidan are up to, then we can deal with them."  
  
Sydney stood up. "I'm going to bed."  
  
"We'll stay here tonight, just in case," Tim said, trying to smile reassuringly at her.  
  
"Thanks." Sydney went upstairs to her room and got ready for bed. A part of her was fascinated by this Night World place, the idea of being beautiful and immortal, power over ordinary humans. She smiled faintly, she wouldn't be a nobody anymore if she could be like that.   
  
And if all this was true, then maybe what Aidan had been saying to her about destiny and all wasn't crappy nonsense. She thought of the rose in her locker and the 'together forever' note. What if she could convince Aidan to make /her/ a vampire, then that could actually ring true?  
  
She was smiling as she fell asleep, dreaming of that thought.  
  
* * * 


	8. pART 8

Part 8  
  
Aidan sighed, pleased to be out of Shaine's mansion. Everything had gone, of course, hideously wrong. He'd had no idea Shaine was planning on bringing Zaire Discord into this thing. He'd never consider trusting the vicious bastard. What the hell had Shaine been /thinking/?  
  
Now Sydney was gone, and worse, Darcy suspected something. He'd managed to dismiss the fact Darcy had seen him talking to Sydney in the first place, when now he realised he should have done something.  
  
Darcy was his friend, he didn't want to hurt her. How could he be sure she wouldn't do anything to Sydney? He didn't even know if Darcy was sure about what was going on. Worse, now Zaire knew.  
  
At least on the good side of things, it looked like Sydney had left the party before anything had happened. So with any luck, she'd have no idea about what was going on. Which meant, of course, he was just going to have to think of another way to make her a Night Person.   
  
He couldn't risk touching her, setting off their soulmate connection while she was still human. He didn't know anyone powerful enough wit Council ties to get permission to change her.   
  
And why would a Council rep be interested in a human like Sydney anyway? She might have potential for being an assassin, Aidan mused as he walked home. She was quiet and blended in easily, with the added powers of the vampire, she could make a name for herself. But he didn't want to do that to her. He couldn't turn her into a ruthless killer.  
  
He just wanted her to be a Night Person so they could be together without the Council having good reason to hunt them down and destroy them.   
  
He turned down the dark streets, but found himself approaching Sydney's house rather than his own. It wasn't like anyone would notice he wasn't at home, anyway. The house was dark, everyone in the house was probably asleep.  
  
He wondered which window belonged to Sydney as he walked silently around the perimeter. If only I could tell her more, he thought with a sigh. Just something to make her interested.  
  
A sound like a car door opening made him turn his head sharply. He watched with a frown, seeing an unmarked van across the street, directly from Sydney's house. That was odd. The windows of the van were tinted so he couldn't see who was inside.   
  
He moved away from the house, blending into shadows and heading quickly home himself. He needed to figure out his next move.  
  
* * *  
Sydney woke the next morning, convinced the world would be - different - somehow. Things may have changed now she knew this great secret. Annoyingly, everything was exactly the same.  
  
Opening her curtains after she'd dressed she saw a van parked directly across the street from her house. Elenia had said she'd see about Daybreak protection. That was probably them. She giggled as she gathered her books for school that day. She hadn't expected that. The van was the type of things you saw the police or FBI set up with surveillance equipment to spy on you in the movies.   
  
She didn't know how she was going to explain this to her parents when they got back from their vacation.   
  
The kitchen smelled good when she went downstairs, fresh coffee was brewing, and Tim was cooking bacon and eggs. As Sydney came into the kitchen toast popped up, golden brown, and not burnt. It made a welcome change to have people in the house early in the morning. Usually Sydney found herself alone, or caught in her parent's rush to get to work on time.   
  
"Sleep okay?" Tim asked with a cheerful smile, getting plates out the cupboard.  
  
Sydney nodded, getting herself a glass of orange juice from the fridge. "Okay, I guess. Where's Elenia?"  
  
Tim served the bacon, eggs and toast onto two plates and put them on the kitchen table. "Out feeding the surveillance team out there."  
  
Sydney couldn't help giggling again. "That just sounds so - weird." She shook her head, digging into her breakfast.   
  
"Don't worry, it's just a safety precaution."  
  
Sydney nodded. She wondered how she was going to make it through school that day without bragging to Darlene that something interesting had finally happened to her. Darlene had dragged her to a party she didn't want to go to, and the result had been the discovery of a world that wasn't supposed to exist but did.   
  
Despite all the warnings Elenia had given her, she was more than a little curious to find out about this Night World. Maybe it was dangerous, maybe Aidan was dangerous, but so what? Sydney was tired of being the girl without a face.  
  
How did she get them to notice her? If she was supposed to be having Daybreak protection, how did she even get close to Aidan? She didn't want to wait for him to just find her. He'd seemed so sincere when he'd been talking about destiny. And there was that note in her locker.   
  
But to her, a red rose and a note saying 'together forever' just didn't seem like the type of thing a /guy/ would do. Then again, if he was a vampire, that didn't make Aidan any ordinary guy.   
  
"The wards are set up, so if any Night Person tries to enter the building, we'll know," Elenia said, coming in the back door.  
  
"Wards?" Sydney asked, coming out of her musings.   
  
Elenia nodded. "Set up by one of the witches." She checked her watch. "We'd better get to school. There'll be a new girl arriving today, Terra Livingston, she's half vamp, half shifter, she'll have the same schedule as you and be your bodyguard."  
  
Sydney was annoyed, but managed a polite smile. She didn't /want/ a girl she'd never met following her around all day. Elenia seemed more on edge this morning that she had last night. She double checked all the locks before they left. She was twitchy and snapped a lot.  
  
"What's up with /her/" she whispered to Tim.  
  
Tim shrugged. "I don't know. I think there's something she's not telling us."  
  
Sydney's eyes rolled. Great, she thought. Just what she needed right now. More secrets. This Night World thing was going to drive her nuts.   
  
* * * 


	9. part 9

Part 9  
  
She must be out of her mind. Terra sighed as she walked down the beach, looking at the early morning waves, hearing the calls of the gulls overhead as they squawked and screeched at one another, almost in some sort of private joke she was almost certain was at her expense.   
  
She tapped her watch, the hands read 8:45am. He was late. She should have known better than to set up a meeting with a vampire first thing in the morning.   
  
Then again, the message had said this was extremely important, so she had decided, with nothing better to do, then she might as well. She paced up along the wet sand, the sea breeze stinging her aqua-coloured eyes.   
  
"Come on, Zaire, get your ass in gear." Sometimes working two sides was a lot harder than people seemed to realise. Making sure you didn't get caught was a lot harder. People didn't give spies the credit they deserved.   
  
"My ass is fine, thanks."  
  
Terra looked over her shoulder to see Zaire walking towards her. He was dressed in tight red leather pants that clung to his slender hips, the leather almost looking like it had been poured on, black shoes made heavy prints in the sand. An open black leather vest completed the outfit. His dark hair was messy, unbrushed, though that only added to the attractiveness of the picture. Her eyebrow rose. "That? At his hour in the morning?"  
  
Zaire looked down at himself. "What?"  
  
Terra shook her head. "Forget it. You called, said it was important. Something to do with some human, Sydney something I'm supposed to be baby-sitting for the damned Daybreakers."  
  
Zaire nodded. "Okay, listen up, here's the deal."  
  
* * *  
  
Everyone at school was talking about the party. It seemed after Elenia had pulled Sydney out of the party something had happened and a girl had died.   
  
Sydney remembered the warning pushed through her letter box, warning her against going to the party, telling her that her life had been in danger if she went.  
  
She had been the one who had been meant to die. Part of her was shaken to the core by the certainty of that part. All this talk of Shaine and Aidan up to something...was killing her really what they wanted to do? Sydney shuddered. Why would they want to do that?  
  
And what was all that together forever crap Aidan had been talking about, with his note and rose? As she walked through the halls to her locker between classes that morning the more she thought about it, the more her mind was starting to put the picture together. Aidan had teamed up with Shaine to set up some sort of attack so Aidan could swoop in and save her, by making her a vampire, so they could quite literally, be together forever.   
  
The warnings, about Aidan being dangerous, about not going to the party, they had all been designed to make sure she would be at that party. Only Elenia had pulled her out before something could happen to her.   
  
Sydney sighed, leaning against her locker. Before she had thought being a vampire might actually be fun. Then she could teach Darlene a lesson for ditching her for the popular people. She could teach the popular people a lesson for snubbing her.   
  
Then again, she remembered, most of the popular people were Night Creatures anyway. If she were one, she could be accepted by them. But Sydney wasn't sure she was ready to become one of the undead for all eternity just to improve her social status.   
  
"Hey, wait up."  
  
Sydney frowned as a girl she didn't recognise came hurrying up to her through the crush of students making their way to their next class. The girl was small boned, dressed in a pale blue sundress with tiny spaghetti straps. Auburn hair fell in gentle curls around her slender shoulders, aquamarine eyes sparkled in her pretty face. "Oh, you must be the bodyguard." Sydney had to bite her lips on a snicker. "Just don't start trying to serenade me with Whitney Houston songs."  
  
The girl's eyebrow rose and she smiled slightly. "Whatever. Yeah, I'm Terra. You're not supposed to be alone at the moment, you never know what Shaine and her cronies will be planning next since plan A has apparently screwed up."  
  
Sydney nodded. She wasn't sure she wanted to have people following her around all the time. She liked her privacy. Only now it looked like she didn't have a choice. She knew Elenia was only trying to be helpful, but she was starting to find the help more annoying than anything.  
  
"I take it Elenia's filled you in on everything." Sydney opened her locker, taking out what she needed for the next few classes and closing it.  
  
Terra nodded. "The girl who died is the girl who worked with Elenia. I'm pretty sure Elenia knows a little more than she's saying."  
  
Sydney glanced over at Terra as they walked off for their biology class. Elenia had never mentioned anything about that. "Elenia knows who killed her?"  
  
"Something else is going on."  
  
Great Sydney thought. More weird crap She was starting to loose her interest in this whole Night World thing. Why couldn't she just go and confront Aidan herself? As long as she took a stake with her in case things got ugly.   
  
And on top of it, she was now starting to doubt her trust in Elenia. The girl had saved her life, but now it seemed there was something she was in on that no one else knew about. Maybe she could ask Tim, he might know.   
  
"I've already figured out what Aidan's up to," she said as they found a seat in the bio lab.   
  
Terra looked at her. "Yeah?"  
  
Sydney looked around the classroom. As usual none of the other students were paying attention to her. Even so, she wasn't going to discuss anything to do with the Night World or Circle Daybreak, just in case someone overheard something they shouldn't. "Yeah."   
  
"What if I told you I could introduce you to someone who could help you deal with the problem of Aidan, once and for all?"  
  
Sydney's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Oh, who?"  
  
Terra just smiled.   
  
* * * 


	10. Part 10

Part 10  
  
"If you love me, you'll kill me," Frost groaned.   
  
Darcy sneered at her, shaking her head in disgust. "Well you only have yourself to blame for getting pissed out your head like that."  
  
"I was bored," Frost cradled her head in her hands, tugging pointlessly at the messy strands of black and platinum blonde.  
  
Darcy didn't say anything. They sat in study hall, pretending to concentrate on the textbooks in front of them. Most of the students around them were doing the same, some actually completing homework most others whispering quietly or passing notes to friends. She sat back in her seat, her gaze drawn to Aidan in the back left hand corner across the room from her. His head was bent over a book, he was scribbling something with a pen.  
  
"Did you find out what you wanted to know?" Frost asked, yawning loudly.   
  
Darcy nodded. "Just about." She hadn't found out anymore about what he and Shaine were up to and what it had to do with Aidan and that human, but finally figured out why it all bothered her so much.  
  
Admitting she was in love with him was hard enough. She didn't want to waste her time telling an insane bimbo like Frost. Frost lay with her head on the desk, blood shot eyes drooping shut. Most teachers knew better than to bother getting some sense in her or even trying to yell at her. They just ignored her, which was what the study hall teacher was doing as with most of the rest of the class.  
  
Aidan looked up, catching Darcy watching him. He smiled, but Darcy couldn't bring herself to smile back. She looked away quickly, feeling heat flush up her cheeks. Great she thought angrily. I'm acting like a goddamn love-struck pre-teen who's just discovered what boys are for  
  
She had seen him put the rose in Sydney's locker. Now Sydney, at the front of the class...was sitting next to Terra Livingston. Darcy blinked. Huh? She'd heard Terra was supposed to be a Night World spy.  
  
//What do you know about these rumours Zaire Discord is involved in Adila's death?// She said telepathically to Terra.  
  
Terra glanced around and looked for the source of the mental-voice. Darcy smiled faintly and waved a hand. Terra nodded and turned back to her work. //He was supposed to get Sydney, only got them mixed up. He's still going to kill the human vermin.//  
  
//Does Aidan know about any of this?//  
  
//I haven't discussed things with him yet, but if I'm going to pull this off for Zaire then I'm going to need to keep him distracted...  
  
Darcy smirked. //I'll take care of that one.// She and Aidan were both Night People. There was nothing to say they couldn't be together. She'd make him see they were so right for each other, he'd forget about his human bimbo.  
  
//You do that. Let me know if there are any other problems I need to know about.//  
  
//Sure.// Darcy flipped open a notepad, taking out a pen and doodled on the page, in a much better mood than when she had gone into class. If Zaire Discord was really on the case to deal with Sydney, she'd be good and dead very soon.  
  
* * *  
  
Shaine hadn't wanted to go to school the morning after the party. The party had been such a disaster. Everything had gone wrong and to make things worse she had had a notorious villain in her house and more than a few dead bodies had turned up by the end of the night.  
  
Most of the Night People she had invited were smart enough to just feed on the vermin provided. Had Zaire brought along some of his own vicious, violent friends to screw things up for the hell of it?  
  
Shaine wouldn't have been surprised if that turned out to be the case. Aidan had been heart broken to learn that Sydney had left, and was now being protected twenty four seven by the Daybreakers. They had probably told her everything.  
  
Shaine groaned, turning over in her bed. She had deliberately overslept, too ashamed to leave the safety of her bedroom where no one would judge her. The whole school would be gossiping about the party now.   
  
Most of the dead humans hadn't been anyone from the high school, so she hoped that would have been covered up, but Adila had been known. She wouldn't be so easily forgotten.   
  
From what Shaine knew of Sydney, Sydney wasn't stupid, and had probably figured out what Aidan was up to. Maybe if she talked to the girl she could make Sydney understand about soulmates - then again, she thought, there was no guarantee that she and Aidan really /were/ soulmates after all.   
  
She dragged herself up eventually, dressing in a black skirt and top. She got to school during lunch period, not surprised to see looks her way and hearing people starting to whisper.  
  
She found her friends in the cafeteria. "Something else is going on," was the first thing Harmony told her when she sat down.  
  
Shaine frowned. "What?"  
  
"The Daybreakers have brought in Terra Livingston," Carmel told her.  
  
Shaine looked at them blankly. "Who?"  
  
"She's one of our spies," Celina answered, rubbing her hand over her eyes. Everyone looked strained and worried. Sydney guessed they were all on edge after last night too. Now there was more bad news to deal with?  
  
"And?"   
  
"She's already been spotted talking with Darcy during break period and early this morning she was seen with Zaire," Harmony said.  
  
Shaine sighed. "Anyone seen Aidan?"  
  
They shook their heads. Shaine wasn't surprised. He was probably off somewhere trying to figure out a new plan. They needed a new plan of their own. Spies were messy business, particularly one who's loyalties were never clear.   
  
"We need to sink this bitch fast," she said, "before everything gets more screwed up than it already is."  
  
"We can't have any more dead bodies showing up," Celina pointed out.  
  
"How else are we going to get rid of her, then?" Carmel argued.  
  
"We could have her attacked by some werewolves or something," Harmony offered.  
  
Shaine sat back in her seat, listening to them bicker back and forth about solutions. Maybe it was /Aidan/ they needed to be dealing with. This whole mess was /his/ stupid fault. If he hadn't broken the law and fallen for Sydney none of this would be happening. He was the one who should be killed.  
  
"What are you smirking about?" Celina asked, frowning at her.  
  
"Nothing," she said quickly, wiping the smile off her face. "Now what are we doing with this spy bitch?"  
  
* * * 


End file.
